Submersible boat.



G. H'. PEGRAM.

\ sumenslslfson. APPLICATIIl FILED AUG. I6. IBI?.

immay oen la 1918; j

encuen n. non, or nw ront, lr. Y.

BUBIEBSIBLE BDAT,

mamma of mais hun.

Patented oet. 15, 191s.

pumas had nume, im. y sex-m 1ro. nano.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Gaonen H. PmRAM, a citizenof the United States, and resident of New York cit county of New York, and 'State of New ork, have invented-an Improvement in Submersiblel Boats, of which the followin yis, a specification.

My invention Vrelates to submersible boats or 4submarines suitableI for commercial or other purposes, but more especially adapted to the usesof naval warfare.

It consists essentiall of a boat of generally cre'ularor oval s "a nplan, havin a' central compartment o tower `form wit ,dome top and, when employed as a war vessel, protected by light armor plate for housing the machinery and guns, surrounded by water-tight compartments to be used for quarters, supplies,'auxiliary machiner storage batteries, torpedo tubes, andl a so for ballast and, when advisable, full tanks.

The boat is propelled by en ines or motors oper-ating, preferably, prop e 1ers in 4duplii cate, which movethe water through a draft `lube in the bottom of the boat, taking it in at the bow and expelling it at the stern,lby which the bow wave is reduced and the stern depression lessened, a vdesirable object as it facilitates motion in `a boat of generally circular shape.` A central telesco ic stack vis desirabl provided through w ich air is ldrawn or the combustion of fuel and me-4 chanicalventilation of theship; it also serv- `ing :is an observation tower from which, when desired, the boat may be navi ated.

,Torpedoptubes of any desired num r may be `arraamged Laround .the circular hull for fire in any direction without. necessity ofy exces 'sive maneuvering of Vthe boat. The outer encircling compartments may, when desired, be filled with waterv for additional protection.

. Submarine boats as now constructed and jn use have numerous inherent defects, which it is Vthe object-fof my invention to overcome. First, `they re uire approximately fifty feet bf water in w ich to submerge on mergence or elevation at definite de ths (when wholly submerged) must be provided 4by the o eration of the diving or e evating rudders inged on horizontal axes, while the ship is in motion. The boat'can only come to rest on the surface or on the bottom, ,all intermediate retained positions of elevation "account of their height; Vand because sub# necessitating that the submarine be under Eopulsion. By m invention, I provide a at of shallow dra small total height, and provlded with vertically acting propellers whlch, when the boat is 'nearly submerged, operate Vto complete the submergence yand hold 1t atany desired depth, ywith or without forward motion as desired. This feature combined lwlth the smalllength of the ship would permit it to enter harbors and be maneuvered wlth facility.'

Second, the 'length of the present submarineis the greatest source of weakne makingit a good target for gunfire for shlps, or aeroplanes sailing lengthwise.,` A very lon ship isrvery'slow to maneuver. vIf ramme A it 1s destroyed no matter where hit, and a torpedo' explodingon one side will open u the seams on the other-side, just asa beam 1s broken byy pressure exerted on one side. The

general circular boat construction of my invention corrects these faults of len h. If hit by atorpedoit could not be bro en, and

the eiectwould-be tomove the whole ship and possibly'break open one of the water- `filled compartments.- It is obvious that the chance ofb'ei'nghit' at all is` small in comparison to the present submarine, and the curved outer surfaces of my improved boat would tend to defiect the torpedo` lwithout exploding it unless it struck end on 'almost radially of the hull. f

q Third, the submarines in use are defensively so weak that they must use guns at a great distance and must submerge prom ltly upon the a proach 'of destroyers. hey carry guns o small caliber and usually these require 'l considerable mani them into action. These come vby my invention as the boat, when used as a htlng machine'has eat defensive ando' ensive Strength. T e central armored to'wer ma contain in theupper chamber two fiveinc guns `and the'controlling devices of the ship.v This chamber Iis entirely separated from ,the engine roomtand has ready accessbymeans o f doors to other arts of the boat without goinglon tothe ulation to.' get fects are overurricane'deck. It is provided with watertightporthole doors which protect the guns from the action.of sea-water, at all times when not in action. The propellers and rudders are'in du licateand housed "so that they cannot be a d by nets.- The boat.; not only can' be run in either direction with 'obvious equi' l equal facility, but may be-qiickly turned on account of itsshape and e .action of: the propelled water upon the rudder. The ring of torpedo tubes ermits quick fire in any direction or all irections and hence may insure protection from simultaneous attacks in all directions..

The generalshape o f my improved boatmakes it comparativelyinexpensive, and en-l ables -it to be run by 'a relatively-small crew. A large 'number of these boats distributed over trade lanes would be a most effective protection from resent typesof submarines, which they coul approach or 11e in wait for with impunity. l q

While my improved submersible has spe; cial advantageswhich make it particularly adapted as a `war vessel, nevertheles its general construction makes it excellently suitable for use in commerce as a merchant vessel, with or without gun and torpedo der fensiveprotection.

With the above and other'objects in view, thev nature of which will be more fully understood from Vthe description hereinafter, the'invention consists in the novel construction of 'submersible boats as .hereinafter more fully described and4 defined in the claims.

-For the purpose of illustratingmy invention, I have shown in the 4accompanying drawings the embodiment thereof which. is at present preferred by me, since the same is in formto give satisfactory and reliable results, but it is to be understoodthat the several instrumentalities of which my irivention consists, can be variously arranged and oranized andthat my invention is not limite to the precise arrangement and organizatiwn of the instrumentalities herein shown and described.'

The constructionwill be better underto'- the accompanying drawings, inwh'ichi-Figure 1 isa vertical crossfsection through the center of the boat tionI across the boat on line ,QH-2 of Fig. 4; Fig. 3 is--a partial vertical cross section 'on line' 3 3- of Fig. 2; and- Fig. 4 shows lon- "tudinal half .cross sections at. diiferent dvels on the broken line 4-4 of- Fig. 1. For the sake of clearness, the usual and ment of `a ship or submarine on which n o invention is claimed, are omitted from -the drawingssuch as' anchors and chains, boats and davits o r skids, derricks, .deck hatches, ventilators-, doors between compartments', telescopic masts'.with wirepressors andrjairt'anks, etc. v

As before stated,.thegeneral shape of Athe hull `is .substantially circular; in lan :and have its outer, `bottom wal saucer less; equipment, periscibpes, pumps', airl comv Bp or hurricane deck o may curved to ope of ballast and fuel stora' S, S. is the clutch -e enti-ic. motors o down toward the water andthus more ef Built up from the bottom of the ull'is the central tower C, protected by armor and surmounted by the'fcitadel C containing the guns when used as a war vessel and this tower mayhave an extensible observation stack W capable of being `elevated when necessary.'

The hull of the vessel is divided vertically about the tower 'by a horizontal annular floor C2, providing' upper and lower-comartments. The lower art of-thehull `beow the Hoor C2 is divi ed into a pluralit compartments lg by radial divisions D. he portion of the vessel .above the floor Cl is divided circumferentially by.` a vertical circular wall Fz and the inner space is again divided by radial walls F to form working and stora compartments F. The 'outer' `ace is vcontrolling quarters or citadel aforesaid;`

The vesselA at the bottom is provided with a suitable transverse draft tube in which thepropellers work, the 'ends of which are provided with rudders, all of which is described more in detail hereinafter.

The general rounded bottom makes 'the vessel sea-worthy when awash, and very Vstable when under gun fire quickly returning to its normal horizont balance. -I` will now hproceed to describe the more important details of the construction comprising the more essential requirements ofV the` invention.

A is the water draft tube extending across the bottom of the hull, open at botb.- endsy and divided into'four or any"desired'1num ber of parallell tubularfcompartments lunder the tower by the vertical division plates or beams b, which supportthe tower and 'floor of the engine room, said drafttube terminating in two assa A' vat `the respective endsand sti ene 'by thekeel webs c and rudder frames r.' The compartments A in which 'the Propellers P are located have no verticalwebs. The bottom late a of the hull -is stiened as required ytlie ribs b. B 1s the 'engine room and contains aj pair of explosive or other engines-S afliesired t pe, operating) the 'y which the; propellershafts and their respective engines may-be propellerv ,shafts 0 medtpgaher or singiy.- M, ivi,- ire.. 'f

l l ratingthrouglithe pin- 'vions d-and dan .spur wheel e toturnfth'el"propeller shaft S,. the motorfbe-ing ene-rprope 1er-shaftr to `chargethe batteries `whenlgized` currentl from thelusual` `stora e atte ,j or conversely to be operated by t e the engines are `being used.` TF3, F, are

clutches for disconnecting the pinions d" fronr" the "operation" of' the propeller shaft. T,* T,="are` vertical draft tubes extending throu' h the hully and open at top andbot` tom, or the submerge the oat, or downward to raiselit when` submerged through the medium of I the propellers.. Q. -These are' driven by .shafts 's and electricmo'tors t, whichf use electriccurrent from the usual storage battery'aforesaid."` While screw propellers are shown to move water, it is obvious that other suitable devices may be used to per` form the same general function'.

When the buoyancy ofthe shlp hasbeen suliiciently overcome b` charging the water ballast tanks, the vertlcalpropellers Q act to" complete the submer ence, and to `hold the b'oat at any depth, w ether in motion or not. Incase the boat is sunk b suilicient waterballast, the vertical propel ers can be used to raise it to neary the-surface, where the water can be Dumped out by'the usual pumps against a smaller pressure, thus using less power-and 'requiring smaller pumps.

t D, D, are water-tight compartments to. be `filledwithwater-ballastl or fuel oil as desired, ofqwhichfthey have suicientcapacity to take the boat over the cruising-range desil-ed. `When fuel is pumped from any compartment it may be ballasted with -water, if so desired. The fuel compartments may be connected by suitable pipin with the oil `tank H of the engine room from which thefenginest-are directly supplied. I is. the drainage tank of thev engine room, and which may be automatically pumped out by a suitable air pump `i.

E, E, are water-tight compartments part or allof which can be filled with water for submerge'nce or for additional protection and stability when inaction on' the surface. They mavbe filled `by valves e2 and discharged 'by pumpse. -F, F, are water,

tight compartmentswith doors f for communication with the engineroom, gun room, and witheach other, as desired, and are the working and housing quarters-'of the crew,

also containing pumps and compressors, storage batteries, etc. They -would also be provided with deck hatches, ventilators, etc.,l as vcustomary, .but notk shown. f

` L, L, are torpedo tubes,each closed at its outer ends by acap h, which is fastened'to ,t the hinge'pin n, suitably journalcd in stuli`.

ing-boxes and` rigidly connected with -they lcvcr O, and also having the studs u' for retaining the torpedo T' when the` cap is" closed. `Thelever O may be'operated by `a` rod o normally held in nlaceby; the" catch o, upon release of which the cap falls `by Eassage of water upward ,to

` are ma e from the vaction of the sea-water.`

\ G whlch move along t gravity,iand"studsuu then releasingtlie tor y pedowhichmaybeffiredb compressed air in the usual way. While l`have describedl the preferred construction of'retaining'the-r` ll torpedoin the torpedoftube.l and forreleasing the same whenv necessary, Iv makekno` claim to this constructioninthis `particular application. y

'It lis intendedthat the torpedoes `T' will .75

be loaded from the outside and.` it'is not thought necessary to' exclude Water?y from i the torpedo tubes. The torpedo bis dis-U charged by admitting compressed air in the rear, o r by any other method. Obviously an additional means would be provided to house and confine the torpedoeswhenthey shi) is not` `in .commission or actionp v 's the upper compartment of lthe as a war vessel,- itv constitutes'a citadelin to 'er i y `C vand contains the" controlling mechanism" of thevessel; and when the jvesselisnsed which arel located the heavy guns g, andalso "such other lighter guns `(not shown) as de` l' sired, as well as the controlling mechanism 1 of the vessel. This compartment, when yfused as a Citadel, isinclosedwith the armor,`

plate as is'also the tower C', exceptthe when submerged the guns will c protected gin po'rts e `and any doors whichy r ingedandwater-ti ht, so that -inch guns g are shown in the drawing,

and` their elevated and depressed .positions J, J, are`rr y10,0 hen itand suplport the gun carriages em. 'When ,the vessel are indicated in dotted lines. girders` extending across the tower C' to stren is to submerge, the guns are vwithdrawn and the ports closed as at c. 4

W is the stack-chamber of the tower rovided with a suitable Water-tight door .2, l'

which may be closedtightly when the boat is submerged. W is'atelescopic-fstack havling a roof plate w `at its top which makes la water-tight fit with the top of 4 thedomewhen closed. The several sections c of the stack are` extended by the use of any of the"` l well known chain pulley'devices similar to the manner of operating extenslon ladders or by other means;

Steps or ladders are provided in' the sides of the stack sections formen to mount onvthetop on; the inside:

and openings fw are providedat the topforj` observation and air entrance. A `Hoor w is also provided upon which the observers may stan( the openings w, y i t i t The boat `might obviously be more `orless ofelliptical or oval form without, depart-- ing from the essential rinciples'of the gen-` cf construction andl facilityof operation the circular formi will be generally vfound de isirable.,

In general, my improved vessel maybe 12o` i when makingf observations through,`

`126 c 'eral circular design,A a `though for economy y bodies the features of advantage enumerated results, it is to be understood that I do not used as a fighting machine or as a merchantman, with or without defensive equipment such as guns and torpedo tubes, or both. When employed in commerce for carrying merchandise, part or all of the compart-k submerging andpropelling the vessel, I do not restrict myself to the precise detalls described, nor to the number of draft tubes, conduits or propellers employed, as these details may be varied to suit the special requirements tosuit the duty required of the vessel.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which einas desirable, and while I have in the present instance'shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having'now described my invention, what I claim ai new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a boat of the character stated, a hull of general circular form having` acentrally arranged tower portion extending vfrom the bottom to the upper deck, and the annular portion of the hull about the tower portion divided into al plurality of water-tight compartments said tower portiondivided by a transverse floor into superimposed compartments, combined with operating machinery in the lower compartment, and ordnance in the upper compartment.

2. In a boat ofthe character stated, a hull of general circular form and generalspheroi-v dal bottomand deck portions, and a tower structure centrally arranged and extending from the bottom to above the deck portion -to provide a controlling compartment, the

body of the hull havingradial division plates extending radially from the tower outward tothe sides and bottom.

3. In a boat of the character stated, a hull of general circular form and `general spheroidal bottom and deck portions,and an armored citadel centrally arranged and extending above the deck portion, the body of the hull having radial division plates extending radially from the citadel outward to the sides and bottom and providing a plurality of water-tight compartments arranged circumferentially about the citadel and an` inner chambered portion between the watertight compartments and the citadel.

. 4. In a boat of the character stated, a hull of general circular form and general spheroidal bottom and deck portions, an armored pcitadel centrally arranged ,andV extending above the deck pentirai,V the/body of the having radial plates extending; ra.- dially from the outward to the; and bottom, and circumferential division plates forming annularly arranged. inner working and storage compartments. and

outer water-tight compartments, and addi'- tional' water-tight. compartments extending below both the iimerand outer compartments first mentioned..

5. In a boat of the character stated, ay hull of general 'circular form and general spheroidal bottom and. deck. portions, an"

armored citadel centrally arranged and/extending above the deck portion, the bodyv of the hull having radial division plates extending radially from` the citadel outwardto the sides and bottom, circumferential divisionv plates forming -annularly arranged inner working and storage compartments and outer water-tight ballast compartments,

additional water-tight compartments extending below both the inner and outer compartments first mentioned, and a plurality of torpedo tubes arranged radially about the boat and extending through the outer watertight compartments and into the inner work- .ing and storage compartments.

6. In a boat ofthe character stated, a hull Shaving a central toweiclportion extending from bottom to upper d and divided into an upper compartment from which to control the boat and a lower compartment for operating machinery, said hull also having a surrounding series of compartments which when filled with water act as5 protection to the tower portion, combined with means for supplying water to the compartments.

' In a boat of the character stated, a hull of generally circular form having a central armored'tower and Vtwo series of surrounding compartments the inner series of said compartmentsprov'iding room for auxiliary machinery, crew quarters and supplies and the outer series foi`` water ballast and for protection, the tower also divided into a lower' compartment for propelling machinery and an upper compartment for guns,

combined vwith an extensible observation stack centrally arranged at the upper part of the tower.

' 8. In aboat of the character stated, a hull of' generally circular form having a central tower ortioii extending from the bottom of the iiull to and above its deck to provide a citadel at the top for guns and an engine room at the bottom, sai hull having water and oil compartments under said tower and around its lower portion.

9. In a boat of the character stated, the hull having a transverse conduit at the bottom and vertical conduits extending from the bottom and arranged at opposite sides of the transverse conduit, combined with propelling means in the transverse conduit,

ii'5 y duim y, l y ,y `10. Ina boatvoffthe'characte described, a hull of subdsantiall. circular form having lu'rality of tolrlfedy al y about the h l for fire in substantially all directions in a horizontal plane. y

el in the verticalcon` o tubos `arranged `radi-y Vunto set my hand.

GEORGE H. PEGRAM.

Wit.: .y

y JAMES M. Omwmonn,

N. C. RoBnINs.

In testimony of which invention, here- I 

